A Siren's Song
by The Steel Angel
Summary: On the two year anniversary of the end of the war, Jake, Marco, and Cassie decide to celebrate. But what happens when one person doesn't show up?


**A Siren's Song**   
**By The Steel Angel**

  
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**_Authors Notes - This idea popped into my head after talking to my dear friend Kristin. ~Hug~. And it's a pairing that I've never done before, Marco/Cassie. Post-war, of course. I'd never hurt Jake like that. You guys should know that by now. So sit back, and enjoy. =P_**   
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"Moral regrets, Bill? I don't have any. Just ask Eisenhower, Grant, or Macarthur if they had any moral regrets after their wars. You can't add morality into the equation. It keeps you from doing what you need to do, to win the war." I said. Mr. O'reilly nodded, and looked over at Jake and Cassie.   
"Mr. Berenson? Ms. Price? Do you have anything to add?" He asked. Both Jake and Cassie shook their heads. "Well, as always, we'll let the audience decide. Thank you for keeping it pithy. Next on the rundown..." And Bill went on. I stood up, along with Jake and Cassie, as was escorted out of the studio, and back down the hallway toward the green room.   
"I hope Ax didn't eat all of those rice krispie squares." I said as we walked down the long hallway. Cassie turned her head to look at me wearily.   
"Marco, there was a plate of about a hundred of them in the green room. And he's only been in there for about fifteen minutes." Cassie said. I nodded slightly, looking back at her.   
"Yeah, I know." I said. Cassie giggled slightly at the implication. Only Jake remained silent. I nudged him with my elbow. "Come on, Big Guy. Laugh it up." I said. He looked down at me.   
"I'm not really in the mood to laugh." He said coldly. Most people would have taken the hint, and backed off. But I knew Jake better than his own mother did. I knew how to push his buttons.   
"Why not? It's the two year anniversary of the end of the war. You should be ecstatic." I said. He stopped walking. I stopped as well, as Cassie continued on into the green room. I didn't blame her.   
"It wouldn't be fair for me to be happy." Jake said simply. I rolled my eyes.   
"Fair to whom?" I asked.   
"To Rachel. To Tom. To Jara Hamee, and Tobias. Those Seventeen Thousand Yeerks that I killed. It wouldn't be fair to Elfangor." He said stonily. I laughed critically.   
"Oh come off it, Jake! Tobias _chose_ to leave, you didn't make him! Rachel and Tom and Jara died, but hey, casualties are a part of war. There's no such thing as a clean war. All those Yeerks? They were our enemies, Jake. The winners of war write the history. It was a justified act. And as for Elfangor, he died so that you could be standing right where you are right now, with the knowledge that you won the war." I said. I saw Jake clench his fists. He knew everything I was saying was true, and he hated me for it.   
"I... I'll see you later tonight, Marco." He said, and turned around. He started to walk back toward the exit. I decided to let him. I turned, and walked into the green room. I saw Cassie standing there with a horrified look on her face. She was staring down at an empty plate, and then at the Andalite standing across the room.   
I believe I have defied the laws of human food consumption. This is why I was forced to demorph. > Ax said, smiling with his eyes, the way Andalites do. We still hadn't figured out if Ax had a sense of humor.   
"Did Jake leave?" Cassie asked me. I turned toward her. She had a look of sadness on her face. I nodded.   
"Yeah. He'll be at my place later on tonight, though." I said. We were having a little get together at my home later on that evening. Well, Cassie, Jake, and I. Ax had to get back to the Dome Ship in orbit around the planet at the moment.   
I must say, Prince Jake still seems to have not gotten over the decisions he made during the war. It is common of a leader. Even Elfangor had regrets. > Ax said softly. I nodded at him, then looked back to Cassie. I noticed the pain that was in her eyes, and I knew exactly what she was feeling. Because Jake, my best friend, my main man.... just wasn't Jake anymore.   


***   


"So, wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You turned _down_ a date with Hillary Duff?!" Cassie asked, supressing a slight giggle. This was actually the first time that I'd been able to be myself with any of the others since the end of the war. I was even dressed in clothes similar to the ones I used to wear during the war, rather than the designer clothes I'd grown accustomed to over the last two years.   
"Yeah. She's just not my type, you know?" I said. Cassie smiled slyly. A smile I hadn't seen on her for years.   
"Would she have been your type, say, three years ago?" She asked.   
"Oh, definately." I said. Cassie started giggling, which only coerced me to chuckle as well. I was about to say something equally witty, but the phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?"   
"Hey Marco." It was Jake.   
"Oh, hey. When are you planning on coming over?" I asked.   
"I can't make it. The University called, and I've gotta do a seminar first thing in the morning over in San Bernadino." He said. I rolled my eyes. Jake was always a terrible liar.   
"Oh, well, all right then." I said, and hung up the phone. I didn't want to get into anything over the phone. I set it down on the coffee table.   
"Was that Jake?" Cassie asked. I nodded, and turned to look at her. She was sitting right next to me.   
"Yeah. He said something about an early morning seminar in San Bernadino." I said. She sighed, and leaned her head against my shoulder.   
"Sometimes I feel like you and I are the only ones that really came out of the war alive. Rachel is dead... Tobias... who knows where Tobias is? Ax is fine, but he's a prince now. He's back with his own people. Jake..." She let it hang. She didn't have to elaborate. I knew exactly what she meant. As strange as it seemed, I felt a bond for between Cassie and I, even from just these last three hours of talking.   
Wait, three whole hours?   
"Sheesh, it's eleven oclock already," I said. Cassie looked down at her watched, and blushed deeply.   
"Oh man... I'm such a ditz sometimes," She muttered, and grabbed her purse from the table. I put a hand on her shoulder, halting her motions. She turned to look at me.   
"Hey, take it easy. It's late. Why don't you crash here?" I offered.   
"I don't know... I wouldn't want to impose." She said. I stared at her drolly.   
"Cassie, I've got twenty two unoccupied guest bedrooms, and you're one of my best friends, whom I don't get to see too often. I won't take no for an answer." I said Cassie smirked.   
"Holding me against my will? That isn't like you, Marco." She said teasingly. I grinned.   
"Do you want me to change my mind?" I said with a laugh.   


***   


I woke up in the middle of the night, blinking. What was the matter? What had woken me up? I looked over at the clock near my bed. Two Eighteen. I sat up in my bed, wearing only my boxers and a white tanktop, which was my normal sleeping attire. Then I realized that I could hear something. I stepped out of my bed, and peered outside my room, down the hall. There was steam coming out of one of the bathrooms. Someone must be taking a shower.   
And that someone was singing.   
It was a beautiful voice. One I'd never heard before. Britney Spears? Jewel? Michelle Branch? No. Maybe it was because I was still half asleep, that I didn't immediately recognize the voice as Cassie's. I crept down the hallway and leaned against the doorway. The door had been left open.   
"Close your eyes... give me your hand, darlin'. Can you feel my heart beating? Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Or is the burning, an eternal flame?" She sang.   
"I believe, that it's meant to be, darlin'. I watch you when you are sleeping, you belong with me. Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Or is this burning, an eternal flame?" I sang the second verse. The water stopped. Out of the cloud of steam, came Cassie. Her hair had grown longer, and was wet around her shoulders. She was wrapped in a white towel. She looked so... beautiful.   
"You... have a great singing voice." Cassie said simply. I gulped, staring into her eyes.   
"You've got the most beautiful voice I've ever heard." I said sincerely. She blushed.   
"Thanks... Jake never commented much," She said.   
"He's crazy." I said, then lifted a hand, and stroked her cheek. She rubbed her cheek against my hand. I lifted her chin up slightly, and pressed my lips against hers. She returned the kiss warmly, pressing me against the wall. She pressed her body against mine, which held the towel in place. I wrapped my arms around her, deepening the kiss.   
"Marco..." Cassie said softly, breaking the kiss. My arms never left her waist.   
"Yes?" I whispered. My lips were no more than an inch away from hers.   
"Make love to me..." She whispered. I pulled her even closer. I nodded slightly, and kissed her again.   


**Unfortunately, FFN has a stupid rule about NC-17. So this is where the fic is gonna have to end. I do have the uncute version typed up, so email me at Wickedclowns101@hotmail.com if you wish to see it. Toodles.**


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